Talent Management
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By Cathy Gallagher-Louisy

If you have ever looked for a job, you have surely come across some articles on “how recruiters evaluate candidates” or “what recruiters see in your resume in the first 30 seconds.” 

People in charge of screening candidates will openly admit to making multiple assumptions about candidates based on certain characteristics. 

Generally, they’ll say they base their assumptions on the most recent role or the companies the candidate has worked for. But we know they are making assumptions about dozens of other factors within a few seconds, and they will necessarily use their biases and preferences as a filter.

This does not happen to recruiters only. Any aspect of people management – from interviewing to performance review to promotions – is influenced by individual and collective biases. Human resources professionals have started to realize this, and “unconscious bias” has become a buzzword in HR and diversity circles.

What’s the problem with that? The tremendous focus that has been placed on “unconscious” bias subtly discourages us from taking ownership and responsibility for our own biases. We all have biases – both unconscious and conscious. We need to deal with them, and move as many as possible from the “unconscious” to the “conscious” category.

As we have seen from recent reporting on the new board and executive diversity disclosure rules required by the Ontario Securities Commission for publicly traded companies, many companies report that they don’t need diversity policies because they are hiring based on merit. Yet, if that were the case, we would not be seeing such disparities in diversity in leadership. The truth is that merit is subjective, and what we define as success factors are very often based on our own biases.

We are wired for bias

Our brains are wired for bias. Our biases – both conscious and unconscious – are tools we use to simplify reality, build paradigms and ultimately streamline how we think, assess and make decisions.

Psychological studies demonstrate that we actually have dozens of different types of biases operating in our brains. Psychologists group our biases into three main categories:

1. Decision-making, belief and behavioural biases: Our biases affect the formation of our beliefs, our business and economic decisions and human behaviour in general. An example of this is when we don’t hire a qualified candidate because they “wouldn’t be a good fit.” What is “fit”? How do we objectively assess “fit” in the hiring process? The reality is that fit is almost always determined by the preferences of the person making the hiring decision.

2. Social or attributional biases: In psychology, attributional biases are the judgment errors we make when we evaluate or try to find reasons for our own and others' behaviours. We do this constantly. However, we’re frequently wrong when we try to assume the intentions of others, and our biases influence how we observe and assess others’ behaviours or intentions. Examples of this occur in the workplace when someone has a different personality or communication style, cultural orientation or approach to work, and we may assess them as “less competent” or “unprofessional.”

3. Memory errors and biases: In psychology and cognitive science, a memory bias affects either the chances that the memory will be recalled at all, or the amount of time it takes for it to be recalled, or both. Furthermore, memory biases can alter the content of a reported memory. This is why eyewitness testimony is universally regarded as flawed. We often remember what we want to remember, not necessarily objective reality of what actually happened.

We have dozens of conscious and unconscious biases operating in our brains at any given time, and we also have a tendency to believe that we are not as biased as others, which makes it very challenging to deal with.

Why does it matter?

We bring our biases to work with us. Biases affect who is hired, what jobs they are hired into, opportunities for advancement, pay and every interpersonal interaction you can think of.

Bias does not necessarily manifest as overt harassment and discrimination. Bias is also demonstrated by more subtle dynamics called microinequities.

Microinequities are conveyed through social expressions, gestures, tone of voice, choice of words, nuances and syntax, and even the amount of attention that someone gets. For example, looking at your phone or your watch or answering the phone or texting while talking to someone gives a subtle message that they are not important enough to command your attention. Sarcasm or a condescending tone tells someone that you do not respect them. When speaking to two people, giving one more attention than the other is a microinequity for the one who is not getting the attention, and it is a microadvantage for the one who is.

Microinequities and microadvantages can be both conscious and unconscious, but they are difficult to point out as they are more elusive and volatile than overtly discriminatory behaviours. The consequence is that they can easily compound over time. Repeatedly sending microinequity messages can tell employees they are not valuable or respected, can erode commitment and loyalty and can negatively affect performance and engagement.

When bias is not addressed in our workplaces, our organizations are exposed to multiple risks. Here are just a few: toxic workplace culture; flawed decision-making – including project assignments and determining who is and who is not a “high potential” employee; unfair adjudication; disengagement; decreased productivity; increased absenteeism and turnover; increased conflicts, grievances and human rights complaints.

How do we overcome our biases?

One of the keys to understanding and overcoming bias is to simply admit that we have biases – both conscious and unconscious. We need to be very honest with ourselves. No matter how egalitarian we want to believe we are, the fact is that we all have preferences for some people and aversions to others. The purpose of admitting this is not to shame ourselves, or to feel guilty or defensive. In fact, guilt, shame or defensiveness prevent us from actually dealing with the issue. It is important to understand what our biases are so that we can consciously work to overcome them, as opposed to being unconsciously controlled by them.

Overcoming biases – individually

There are a number of online tests you can do to determine what your biases are (such as the Harvard Implicit Association tests). Also, ask yourself these questions and answer honestly:

• What are your first thoughts when you see people who are different from you?
• Do you immediately feel fear, discomfort, defensiveness or aversion when you encounter certain types of people?
• What is causing that fear or discomfort?
• How does this discomfort impact your behaviour toward them?
• Do you feel certain types of people are better performers?
• Do you feel certain types of people are better leaders?

We need to delve into these beliefs and responses and become cognizant of what is operating there so we can be aware when our biases are being triggered.

So, how do you overcome your own biases? First, we need to learn how to separate the individual from any group you may associate them with and avoid making assumptions. A very common type of bias is what psychologists call “group attribution error,” where we assume the characteristics of an individual group member is reflective of the group as a whole. You see this play out frequently when the only minority person in a room is asked to speak for all members of a group they belong to. We have heard numerous examples where a male-dominated team turns to the only woman in the room and asks: “What are women in the firm going to think about this?” The flawed assumption that she speaks for all women is group attribution error.

Second, intervene when you encounter biases in others. Look for “teachable moments” and use them in a way that helps others to learn and grow. Present information to them in a way that helps them recognize how someone else may have felt about what they said, or how the impact of their behaviour may not have been what they intended. Do not shame them; instead give them tools to change. Ultimately, that will have an impact on all the people they are going to interact with in the future.

The final thing is we need to be consistent to be credible. If we are encouraging others to acknowledge their own biases, it is vitally important that we do so with our own as well.

Overcoming biases – organizationally

How do we overcome biases at the organizational level?

• It is vitally important that training be offered to all leaders, managers and HR staff on bias, encouraging them to be self-reflective and to recognize how biases are operating in their day-to-day decisions: who they deal with, who they talk to, who they give time to, how they make hiring decisions, how they make promotional decisions, etc. Without formal training, they are unlikely to have an opportunity to be self-reflective.

• Assess the organizational culture and measure the difference between intent and impact. Most organizations have a set of core values, and in many organizations those values are not reflected by the actual organizational culture. Welcome every opportunity to encourage alignment with your organization’s core values, and steer the organizational culture toward inclusivity.

• Evaluate HR systems for the impacts of bias. Look at whether certain groups are over-represented or under-represented in the organization or in particular roles. If you see over-representation and under-representation, then you can tell that there are biases at work. Dig a little bit deeper to see what those biases are and how they are operating.

• Finally, encourage open communication about differences and biases in the organization. This sometimes means encouraging difficult conversations, but the difficult conversations are how we learn and grow.

HR professionals have an essential role to contribute in overcoming conscious and unconscious biases in our organizations.

Cathy Gallagher-Louisy leads the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI)’s research and knowledge services portfolio. CCDI has become the trusted advisor for all issues related to diversity, inclusion, equity and human rights management within Canada’s workplaces.

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